he
other, while he looked up to the altered face, and perceived in it grief
and humiliation almost as plainly as illness. His keen eyes read that
the sorrow was indeed more deeply rooted than he had hitherto believed,
and that Amabel's pity had not been wasted; and he was also struck by
the change from the great personal strength that used to make nothing of
lifting his whole weight.

'I am sorry to see you so pulled down,' said he. 'We must try if we can
doctor you better than they did at St. Mildred's. Are you getting on, do
you think?'

He had hardly ever spoken to Philip, so entirely without either
bitterness or sarcasm, and his manner hardly seemed like that of the
same person.

'Thank you, I am growing stronger; but as long as I cannot get rid of
this headache, I am good for nothing.'

'You have had a long spell of illness indeed,' said Charles. 'You can't
expect to shake off two fevers in no time. Now all the anxiety is over,
you will brighten like this house.'

'But tell me, what is thought of Amabel? Is she as well as she ought to
be?'

'Yes, quite, they say--has recovered her strength very fast, and is
in just the right spirits. She was churched yesterday, and was not
the worse for it. It was a trial, for she had not been to East-hill
since--since last May.'

'It is a blessing, indeed,' said Philip, earnestly.

'She has been so very happy with the baby,' said Charles. 'You hear what
its name is to be?'

'Yes, she told me in her letter.'

'To avoid having to tell you here, I suppose. Mary is for common wear,
Verena is for ourselves. She asked if it would be too foolish to give
such a name, and mamma said the only question was, whether she would
like indifferent people to ask the reason of it.'

Philip lapsed into thought, and presently said, abruptly, 'When last we
parted you told me I was malignant. You were right.'

'Shake hands!' was all Charles's reply, and no more was said till
Charles rose, saying it was time to dress. Philip was about to help him,
but he answered, 'No, thank you, I am above trusting to anything but my
own crutches now; I am proud to show you what feats I can perform.'

Charles certainly did get on with less difficulty than heretofore, but
it was more because he wanted to spare Philip fatigue than because he
disdained assistance, that he chose to go alone. Moreover, he did what
he had never done for any one before--he actually hopped the whole
length of the passage, beyo